Thursday, August 8, 2013

My iPhone was also in Oregon and Montana

Howdy! I'm back with part two of what my iPhone has been up to for the last four weeks. My Eye-Fi is currently downloading all the pictures from my camera. It has been going for hours... any tips on speeding up your Eye-Fi downloads? Anyway, I look forward to posting some of the photos from specific places we visited. There were so many cool things to see and do.

This post is more of a hodge podge. Glimpses into what we encountered in various places. Here goes...

This first set was taken in the Vancouver-Portland area. 1// Portland's Rose Test Garden. More roses than one could ever imagine and a beautiful view of the city below. Divine. 2// Fruit Loops on froyo. Why am I just now trying this? 3// My new friend Lucy. She has a funny little personality and the sweetest face. 4// Our friend took us to a place called McMenamins-Edgfield. It is so hard to describe. It's an old estate that has been converted into a winery, restaurant, bars, inn... the list goes on. There was even a hobbit hole with a bar in it. The art inside the buildings is funky and amazing. I could move there just to visit this place. This was my favorite piece of art... I waaaant it.

We really love Bozeman. For being a relatively small town, there are a million things to do and see. 1// Kiddo at the new park. It's huge! Jared and our niece spent hours there one afternoon. 2// Italian ice on Main Street. These cousins are so great together. Despite the age difference, they play together seamlessly and never seem to be at odds. 3// The view from my sister-in-law's house. Are you kidding me? We stayed with her several times and each morning I would tiptoe out of bed and enjoy my coffee and the view before the kiddos woke up. 4// Even the trash cans are awesome.

1// I've never met a tree this kid didn't want to climb. Bozeman is full of good climbing trees. 2// Only in Montana do you get a bottle of ranch on the table with the other condiments. Good, homemade diner ranch. Montanans dip everything in ranch... Mario and I actually had a discussion about whether Montana uses the most ranch per capita every year. 3// So much luggage. We were suffering from a serious case of excess baggage on the way home. This is what work, play, and a week at camp looks like. And having a husband who is a serious over-packer. 4// Jared's newest obsession: the jackalope. He knows they are not actual animals, but he wanted one so bad. He begged. He pleaded. We didn't want to pay $100 for a fictional antlered rabbit taxidermy, but promised to keep our eyes open for one. 5// You really can do CrossFit moves anywhere. Even if the other moms at the park look at you like you're crazy. 6// Oh, the pink sunsets. Dreamy. 7// You are never too old for sidewalk chalk. I love that kid.

1// My frizzy, finicky hair loved the dry climate and behaved like I was bribing it with packets of Pop Rocks. I am now looking back on that fondly between wild strands of pouf. 2// Post-manicure ice cream with my niece. Baskin Robbins had an ice tea sorbet that was surprisingly yum. 3// Vacation calls for sparkly teenybopper nails, right? I thought so. Please disregard the abysmal state of my man hands. 4// My sister-in-law's pup Blaze. He would lay in my lap while I enjoyed my morning joe. What a buddy. 5// Do you remember those huge jawbreakers? When I was growing up in the 90s they were all the rage. Kids would keep them in baggies and lick them for weeks. Now I realize how unsanitary that is. They must have been little bacterial cesspools. Ah, to be a kid again. 6// Teenybopper nails call for teenybopper toes. Boy did I shimmer. 7// A "pucker sucker". Never heard of it? Neither had we. They were selling them at an art festival and they were nothing more than a peppermint stick candy in a lemon. It was surprisingly good. Interesting, but good.

1// Mario's parents have a house and three cabins on Flathead Lake in northwest Montana. The boys and I always stay in this little cutie while we are up there. I'm pretty sure I could live in it. 2// A martini on the lake. At sunset, of course. 3// More lakeside sunset. 4// If there was any confusion over our location... cowboy boots. Of every shape and color. We were definitely out west. 5// Montana really is Big Sky Country. There is a complete 360 degree view of the horizon. It's really amazing. After living in other places for the past 9 years, I can appreciate the views so much more.

That's all she wrote from the iPhone front. As the photos from my camera pop up one by one in the corner of my screen, I grow more excited to share more of our travels. Especially my new favorite town in the whole world.